Hairball problem

vball91

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Despite the fact that I've been giving Aria slippery elm bark and EITHER egg yolk lecithin OR a third of a raw egg yolk alternated daily (i.e. SEB, EYL, SEB, raw egg yolk, SEB, etc.) for the past 2 weeks, she hacked up a fairly large hairball Sunday morning and then another one this morning.
 She is perfectly normal in every other way and is happy to eat right afterwards. She hasn't been regurgitating food at all, just hacking up the hairball plus a little clear liquid. In our defense, it has finally started warming up in CO this past week, and she's been shedding and grooming like crazy. I brush her once a day, and I'm getting a fair bit of fur.

This has been a fairly typical pattern with her over the years to cough up a few hairballs during the worst of the shedding. I was hoping that with her new better diet (mostly raw) and the EYL and SEB, the hairballs would disappear. I wonder if the crappy food I fed her for 6 years permanently affected her motility.


Other than increasing the EYL to every day and brushing her more, does anyone else have any other suggestions for me to try?
 

feralvr

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You could have your kitty shaved in the lion cut. :anon: Honestly, I have done that with even my short-haired cats to help with the Spring shedding season. Also, you could try giving Aria pure Vaseline - 1/2 tsp. three times per week to start. In between meals and any medications. Vaseline lubes the digestive tract only and will block nutrients from getting though. It is completely safe to use though and really does work to help with the passage of hair.
 
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vball91

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You could have your kitty shaved in the lion cut.
Honestly, I have done that with even my short-haired cats to help with the Spring shedding season.
Hmm, something I've never considered. I'm sure the little princess will not be happy, but if she keeps hacking up hairballs, I'm going to seriously consider this.
 Also, you could try giving Aria pure Vaseline - 1/2 tsp. three times per week to start. In between meals and any medications. Vaseline lubes the digestive tract only and will block nutrients from getting though. It is completely safe to use though and really does work to help with the passage of hair.
I really hope increasing the egg yolk lecithin will help becase I hate the thought of giving her Vaseline. Thanks for the suggestion though.
 

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ldg

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I've used vaseline in the past too. :nod: I could never really get enough in the kitties on a frequent enough basis to make a difference with hairballs, so never really pursued it. But I remember seeing talk about the link of petrolatum to cancer, so did some hunting the other day. One of the links that turned up in the search was the TCS thread! So since it came up, I figured it was appropriate to post the info I found there and bump up the thread. :nod:

...especially because so many of us thought it was or think it is safe. :rub:
 
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vball91

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Thanks Laurie. As always, you've been so helpful and informative. I've never given Aria any petroleum jelly/mineral oil based hairball remedies because before I started researching cat nutrition and health, I thought hairballs were normal.
 My husband's family is firmly convinced of this, having owned cats for all their lives.


I really hope the increased EYL starts working. The hairballs don't seem to bother Aria much, but I hate to see her vomit.
 
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vball91

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Just wanted to update this thread. I increased the dosage of EYL to one capsule a day, and starting the day after I did that, no more hacked up hairballs. Hooray! I'm going to continue with this dosage through the rest of shedding season.
 

goholistic

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I realize this thread is a few months old, but it pertains to exactly what [I think] I am dealing with my cat Sebastian.

I recently came across an article (http://consciouscat.net/2010/04/28/some-startling-new-thoughts-on-cats-and-hairballs/) that was also featured in a thread right here on TCS in April 2013 (http://www.thecatsite.com/t/257969/interesting-article-on-hairballs).

After reading some more articles and threads on TCS, I came to realize that I think Sebastian has a GI motility issue. I have been giving him one capsule of egg yolk lecithin every day as suggested by the fine folks on this site. However, three days ago he coughed up a huge hairball - probably 6 inches long by 3/4 inch thick. Ouch! Then yesterday morning...another hairball (not as big as the first but still quite large). Then this morning...another one (smaller). He must have had A LOT of hair in his stomach for so much to come up in such a short time frame. I brush him every night. I'm working towards transitioning him to a home-cooked all-meat diet, so I'm hoping this helps with motility. I'm going to experiment with some Slippery Elm Bark, but Sebastian does not like a lot of extra "stuff" in his food nor does he like to be syringe-fed anything. It certainly doesn't help that he's a bit of an OCD groomer. If all else fails, I may seriously have to consider having him shaved.
Just wanted to update this thread. I increased the dosage of EYL to one capsule a day, and starting the day after I did that, no more hacked up hairballs. Hooray! I'm going to continue with this dosage through the rest of shedding season.
vball91, are you still having success with EYL given every day? I've heard such great things, so I wonder why it's not working for Sebastian. 


Some people have used coconut oil with results. Any thoughts on this?
 

franksmom

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I realize this thread is a few months old, but it pertains to exactly what [I think] I am dealing with my cat Sebastian.

I recently came across an article (http://consciouscat.net/2010/04/28/some-startling-new-thoughts-on-cats-and-hairballs/) that was also featured in a thread right here on TCS in April 2013 (http://www.thecatsite.com/t/257969/interesting-article-on-hairballs).

After reading some more articles and threads on TCS, I came to realize that I think Sebastian has a GI motility issue. I have been giving him one capsule of egg yolk lecithin every day as suggested by the fine folks on this site. However, three days ago he coughed up a huge hairball - probably 6 inches long by 3/4 inch thick. Ouch! Then yesterday morning...another hairball (not as big as the first but still quite large). Then this morning...another one (smaller). He must have had A LOT of hair in his stomach for so much to come up in such a short time frame. I brush him every night. I'm working towards transitioning him to a home-cooked all-meat diet, so I'm hoping this helps with motility. I'm going to experiment with some Slippery Elm Bark, but Sebastian does not like a lot of extra "stuff" in his food nor does he like to be syringe-fed anything. It certainly doesn't help that he's a bit of an OCD groomer. If all else fails, I may seriously have to consider having him shaved.

vball91, are you still having success with EYL given every day? I've heard such great things, so I wonder why it's not working for Sebastian. 


Some people have used coconut oil with results. Any thoughts on this?
See how it goes but I can really recommend shaving it really helped Frank out and I think some cats just can not handle the amount of hair they have. For Frank I am going to keep him shaved and fuminate in-between shaves. I got him done I think in June and will probably do him again soon to be on the safe side and I bought a pet shaver so I can do it myself this time. I had a groomer come to the house last time and I think that stressed him out more because he does not like to be held by strangers- it wasn't that bad but he did bite me for the first time ever so was not very happy about it but he started acting so much better immediately. 
 
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